Behavior Based Safety

Safety Professionals View

Objectives Today:

Identify differences between traditional vs BBS Know when and when not to implement BBS Explain why most traditional safety programs dont work! Understand why positive reinforcement is much more powerful than negative reinforcement

Why Safety Programs Do Not Work:

Safety is a priority, not a value! Safety is not managed in the same manner as production, quality, and cost issues! Safety is not driven through continuous improvement!

Fallacies or Realities in Safety Fables?

Conditions cause accidents! Enforcing rules improves safety! Safety professionals can keep workers safe! Low accident rates indicate safety programs are working well! Investigating to find the root cause of accidents will improve safety! Awareness training improves safety! Rewards improve safety!

Core Elements in Successful Safety Programs

A culture that says safety is important around here! A tight accountability system!

Safety Intervention Strategies

(By NSC)
Approach # of Studies # of Subjects 2,444 n/a n/a 76 2 n/a 1,300 6,100 19,177 n/a Reduction % 59.6% 51.6% 29.0% 20.0% 18.3% 17.0% 15.0% 14.0% 3.7% 0%

Behavior Based 7 Ergonomics 3 Engineering Change 4 Problem Solving 1 Govt Action 2 Mgt. Audits 4 Stress Management 2 Poster Campaign 2 Personnel Selection 26 Near-miss Reports 2

Behavior Based Safety: What Is It?

An excellent tool for collecting data on the quality of a companys safety management system A scientific way to understand why people behave the way they do when it comes to safety

Properly applied, an effective next step towards creating a truly pro-active safety culture where loss prevention is a core value
Conceptually easy to understand but often hard to implement and sustain

Behavior Based Safety:What It Is Not!

Only about observation and feedback Concerned only about the behaviors of line employees A substitution for traditional risk management techniques About cheating & manipulating people & aversive control A focus on incident rates without a focus on behavior A process that does not need employee involvement

Interventions: Always Consider These 3 Components

Engineering Controls

Traditional Hierarchy of Safety Interventions Included:

Attempts to eliminate the hazard Having employees work around the hazard Guarding or warning employees about the hazard Training employees to deal safely with the hazard

Safety Management System Interventions 7 components

Management leadership
vision, values, commitment safety goals & objectives costs of safety performance

Responsibility & accountability

defined for management & employees accountable for performance

Safety organization
safety committees safety staff resource safety budget

Safety Management System Interventions 7 components (continued)

Safe work practices & procedures
general & job specific housekeeping contractors emergency

Safety review & improvement

a Plan / Do / Check / Act process accident investigation process safety audit / inspection process

Safety Management System Interventions 7 components (continued)

Safety training
Based on needs assessments Designed & presented effectively For both management & employees Results in observable changes in behavior on the job

Safety communications
Internal & external Appropriate for audience Effectiveness of communication methods

If Safety Interventions are Effective You Will See:

% of safe behaviors increasing and the % at-risk behaviors decreasing Reporting of near misses / hits increasing Both the number of observations and level of participation increasing Frequency & severity of injuries decreasing Increasing acceptance of responsibility and accountability for personal behavior

A business succeeds or fails through the performance of all of its employees

Business is Behavior

Success = Good performance

Failure = Bad performance

Performance = the combined results of a series of behaviors
* Aubrey Daniels, author and behavioral psychologist

Suggested BBS Process:

Discovery - Determine Behaviors That Have

Greatest Loss Impact

Design - Identify Team Who Will Define &

Design BBS Process

System Up - Implement BBS Observation

Process & Collect Data

System Check - Ensure BBS Process Has

Been Effectively Implemented

Observations, Feedback & Data Collection

Use a design team of hourly workers, supervisors and managers, to design the process - forms, training, data collection and ID roles & responsibilities Clearly define critical behaviors that will be observed - what is safe vs at-risk? Give feedback on safe & at-risk behavior observed Determine who will act on data collected through observations

Use Prior Experience Data to Target Jobs for Observation

Loss runs from insurance carrier or broker OSHA logs

First aid logs

Near miss / hit reports

Absenteeism / turnover reports

Define Critical Behaviors - What is Safe & What is At-risk?

Focus on relevant behaviors that will have a direct impact on losses Many behaviors that are directly related to the losses are unconscious behaviors that occur quickly Select critical behaviors to focus on through actual observation of people at work not just through discussion & brainstorming

Obstacles To Success:

Poorly Maintained Facilities Top-down Management Practices Poor Planning/Execution Inadequate Training

Keys to Success:

Meaningful Employee Empowerment Designing a Well Planned and Supported BBS Process Managing BBS Process with Integrity

Human Behavior is a function of :

Activators (what needs to be done) Competencies (how it needs to be done) Consequences (what happens if it is done)

Human behavior is both:

Observable

Measurable

therefore

Behavior can be managed !

Attitudes

are inside a persons head -therefore they are not observable or measurable

however

Attitudes can be changed by changing behaviors

ABC Model
Antecedents
(trigger behavior)

Behavior
(human performance)

Consequences
(either reinforce or punish behavior)

Definitions:
Activators: A person, place, thing or event
that happens before a behavior takes place that encourages you to perform that behavior.
Activators only set the stage for behavior or performance - they dont control it.

Some examples of activators

Definitions:

Behavior: Any directly measurable thing that a person does, including speaking, acting, and performing physical functions.

Some examples of behavior:

Definitions:
Consequences: Events that follow behaviors. Consequences increase or decrease the probability that the behaviors will occur again in the future.
Oh please let it be Bob!

If you dont send in that payment well take you to court

Some example of Consequences:

Consequences - How would you view them?

Sunbathing

Aggressive Drivers

Only 4 Types of Consequences:

Positive

Reinforcement (R+)

("Do this & you'll be rewarded")

Negative

Reinforcement (R-)

("Do this or else you'll be penalized")

Behavior
Punishment

(P)

("If you do this, you'll be penalized")

Extinction

(E)

("Ignore it and it'll go away")

Consequences Influence Behaviors Based Upon Individual Perceptions of:

Significance or negative

positive

Magnitude - large or
small

Impact other

personal or

Timing - immediate or future Consistency - certain or uncertain

Both Positive (R+) & Negative (R-) Reinforcement Can Increase Behavior
R+ : any consequence that follows a behavior and
increases the probability that the behavior will occur more often in the future - You get something you want

R- : a consequence that strengthens any behavior that

reduces or terminates the consequence - You escape or avoid something you dont want

R+

Good safety suggestion Joe! Keep bringing em up!

One more report like this and youre outa here!!

R-

P e r f o r m a n c e

R+

The effects of positive reinforcement

Time

Both Punishment & Extinction Decrease Behavior

P: a procedure in which a punisher (consequence
that decreases the frequency of the behavior it follows) is presented - You may get something you dont want

E: withholding or non-delivery of positive

reinforcement for previously reinforced behavior You dont get what you want

You bonehead!! You can kiss that bonus for this year good-bye.... and take a few days off without pay!!!

Let him cry honey. If we get up every night when he cries hell never learn to go to sleep peacefully.

P e r f o r m a n c e

P
The effects of punishment

Time

P e r f o r m a n c e

E
The effects of extinction

Time

P e r f o r m a n c e

If you see this type of performance curve, you can bet management by negative reinforcement is the predominant management style

Time

What Employees Want:

A Safe Workplace A Positive Workplace To Take Care of One Another To Stop the Hurt!

What Management Wants:

An Accident Free Workplace Empowered Employees Pro-active Rather Than Re-active Work Process To Minimize Direct and Indirect Costs and Threat of Liability From Accidents

Why is one sign often ignored, the other one often followed?

If you want to know what people find to be reinforcing....

observe what they do when they have the freedom to choose.

The Behavior Based Safety Challenge:

To create conditions that encourage people to collaborate because they want Lets do to it!!

not because they have to

A Values-Based Process
Focus on the process.not resultsthey will come later!

Avoid The Following Headline:

Behavior Based Safety Scores Show Significant Improvement - while injury rate climbs!

Why Do We Need to Change?

If you do what youve always done, youll get what you always got! W. Edwards Deming